Luminous bodies



July 19, 1955 w. v. ETZKORN 2,713,629

LUMINOUS BODIES Filed Sept. 5, 1950 INVENTOR. h/a/fer V. E 7zkor/ATTORNEY United States Patent 2,713,629 LUMINOUS BODEES Walter V.Etzkorn, Qakland, Calif. Application September 5, 1950, Serial No.183,186 9 Claims. (Cl. 240-2.25)

that may be readily bent to form various shapes such as letters andother characters in advertising display and other uses.

More particularly, similar elongated structure made of plastic or anyother suitable flexible and in such a manner that they may be marketedin long units adapted for rolling on large spools to be cut into It isfurther proposed, in the present invention, to incorporate in such tubesor structures a certain amount of fluorescent material, which may beapplied in the form of a coating to the inside or the outside of thetube or other structure, or sandwiched within layers, or may be embeddedin the material thereof, and which will be excited to glow byultraviolet rays emitted from the luminous gas in the ampo'ules.

The present invention is agents for rendering the lumlnous gas activefor illumination, in the present invention it is proposed to provide aluminous tube of the character described that is adapted for connectionto ordinary A. C. or D. C. systems.

Further objects and advantages of my invention will appear as thespecification proceeds, and the novel features of my invention will befully defined in the claims attached hereto.

The preferred forms of my invention are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawing, in which:

Figure 1 shows a side view on an enlarged scale of my luminous tube, aportion being broken away to disclose the interior construction,

Figure 2, a detail view of a glow lamp used in my construction,

Figure 3, a detail view, in section, of a modified form of glow lampused in my construction,

Figure 4, a side view, partly in section, of a modified form of myluminous tube, and

Figure 5, a sectional detail view of a slightly modified form of a glowlamp used in the structure of Figure 4.

While I have shown only the preferred forms of my invention, I wish tohave it understood that various 2,7l3,629 Patented July 19, 1955 matelyone-half inch proximately inch in thickness.

The inner wall of the tube is shown as provided with a coating 3 ofphosphor or other fluorescent material. This coating may be applied tothe outside, or the entire body of plastic material may be impregnatedwith fluorescent material, or the fluorescent material may be sandwichedbetween layers of the flexible body.

The lamps 2 may be of any suitable shape and character suited for thepurpose and are here shown as commercial neon glow lamps comprising aglass wall or envelope 4, a pair of spaced electrodes 5 and a pair ofconnecting wires 6 sealed in the base 7 of the lamp. The envelope 4 isfilled with a luminous gas.

The lamps are carried by two conducting wires 8 which extend lengthwisethrough the tube, preferably in manner as at 9. The lamps and theconducting wires thus form a chain which may be drawn through the tubeinto any position desired and which will retain the posiadjusted due tothe flexibility of the chain, which allows numerous portions thereof toenter into frictional contact with the inner face of the tube,particularly as the latter is bent and flexed into shape to present adesired character.

Each of the lamps has a resistance, impedance, reactance or capacitorIt) incorporated in one of the lead wires thereof, or within the lampitself. The two main conducting wires 8 may be connected to a suitableshown) adapted for connection into any suitable socket Without exposingThe lamps are also sufliciently short, as compared with the length ofthe tube and sufli- While normally most letters and characters inadvertising signs are formed on large curves as compared with a tubeone-half inch in diam- Furthermore, this flexible tubing can be broughtup to an inflection point and crimped, a feat which would not bepossible in the luminous tube trade.

While I do not desire to limit myself to specific dimensions, I mightsay that in my working model I employ ampoules about inch in diameterand one inch in length, with inch spacing between the ampoules.

Where plain plastic material is used for the tube, the

lamps, when lit, will show up as spaced sources of light, sufficientlyclose, however, to deflne the outline of the tube. if a more uniformglow following the length of the tube is desired, the fluorescentmaterial is added to the tube, as at 3. This material will be excited toglow by ultraviolet rays emitted from the luminous gas in the ampoulcsand to spread the lighting effect over the entire tube.

In case it is desired to use quartz glass, or other ultraviolettransmitting glass or material, for the ampoules for more effectiveemission of ultraviolet rays, the structure shown in Figure 3 may beused. Quartz glass does not lend itself to scaling over lead-in wiresand it is desirable therefore to make the ampoule 2 in three parts, amain body portion 11 for holding the luminous gas made of quartz glass,a base 12 of ordinary glass having the lead wires 13 embedded thereinand a seal 14 between the main body portion and the base.

In this form the resistor or condenser is made by printing or painting asmall section of the ampoule, as at 15,

the print or paint being connected into one of the lead wires as shown.

The form shown in Figures 4 and 5 is substantially similar to the formpreviously described, except that spherical lamps 2" are substituted forthe ampoules, the electrodes being suitably connected into the lamps asshown at to. in the form of Figure 4 the resistors 10 are shown inconventional form, while in Figure 5 a printed or painted surfacesection is substituted as at 15.

While my flexible luminous body has been described as comprising aflexible hollow tube and a relatively independent chain of lamps andaccessories adapted for mounting in the tube, various modifications maybe made embodying the principle of the invention.

I claim:

1. A luminous body comprising a flexible tube of light transmittingmaterial adapted for bending into a desired shape, and a chain ofelectrical lamps extending through the tube, the chain comprising a pairof spaced conductors arranged in diametrically opposed relation withinthe tube, pairs of lead wires extending from the conductors toward oneanother, and lamps secured upon the lead wires and supported therebysubstantially in central relation with respect to the tube, and thelamps being of a width substantially equal to one-half of the tubediameter and being spaced along the length of the tube sufficientlyclose to substantially illuminate the entire tube area.

2. A luminous body comprising transmitting material adapted for shape,and a chain of electrical lamps extending through the tube, the chaincomprising a pair of spaced conductors arranged in diametrically opposedrelation within the tube, pairs of lead wires extending from theconductors toward one another, and lamps secured upon the lead wires andsupported thereby substantially in central relation with respect to thetube, and the lamps being of a width substantially equal to one-half ofthe tube diameter and being spaced along the length of the tubesulficiently close to substantially illuminate the entire tube area, andthe tube having fluorescent material incorporated in the wall thereof tocause the entire wall of the tube to glow in response to light raysemitted by the lamps.

3. A luminous body comprising a flexible, plastic tube oflight-transmitting material adapted for bending into a desired shape,and a chain of electric lamps extending through the tube, the tube beingof uniform flexibility and bendability and light-transmittancethroughout the length thereof, the chain comprising a pair of spacedconductors extending lengthwise through the tube and arranged indiametrically opposed relation within the tube, pairs of lead wiresextending from the conductors toward one another, and lamps secured uponthe lead wires and a flexible tube of light bending into a desiredsupported thereby substantially in central relation with respect to thetube.

4. A luminous body comprising a flexible, plastic tube oflight-transmitting material adapted for bending into a desired shape,and a chain of electric lamps extending through the tube, the tube beingof uniform flexibility and bendability and lighttransmittance throughoutthe length thereof, and the chain including a member extending throughthe tube longitudinally so as to be adapted for pulling through the tubewithout disturbing the lamp arrangement.

5. A luminous body comprising a flexible, plastic tube oflight-transmitting material adapted for bending into a desired shape,and a chain of electric lamps extending through the tube, the tube beingof uniform flexibility and bendability and light-transmittancethroughout the length thereof, and the chain being longitudinallycontinuous to maintain the lamps in selected spaced relation when thechain is drawn through the tube.

6. A luminous body comprising a flexible, plastic tube oflight-transmitting material adapted for bending into a desired shape,and a chain of electric lamps extending through the tube, the tube beingof uniform flexibility and bendability and light-transmittancethroughout the length thereof, and the chain including a pair oflongitudinally continuous conducting wires having the lamps mountedthereon in spaced relation and adapted to maintain the lamps in suchspaced relation when the chain is drawn through the tube.

7. A luminous body comprising a flexible, plastic tube oflight-transmitting material adapted for bending into a desired shape, apair of conducting wires extending lengthwise through the tube in spacedrelation, a series of lead wires secured upon the wires in spacedrelation and transversely to the axis of the tube, and lamps securedupon the lead wires intermediate the conducting wires and electricallyconnected thereto.

8. A luminous body comprising a flexible, plastic tube oflight-transmitting material adapted for bending into a desired shape, apair of conducting wires extending lengthwise through the tube in spacedrelation, a series of lead wires secured upon the wires in spacedrelation, and transversely to the axis of the tube, and lamps securedupon the lead wires intermediate the conducting wires and electricallyconnected thereto, the lamps being in the form of elongated ampoules andbeing mounted upon the lead wires with their axes substantially inregistry with the tube axis.

9. A luminous body comprising a flexible, plastic tube oflight-transmitting material adapted for bending into a desired shape, apair of conducting wires extending lengthwise through the tube in spacedrelation, 21 series of lead wires secured upon the wires in spacedrelation and transversely to the axis of the tube, and lamps securedupon the lead wires intermediate the conducting wires and electricallyconnected thereto, the lamps being in the form of spherical glow lampsand having the lead Wires extending thereinto from opposite sides.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

